Airship.



W. T-. WILKINS.

' AIRSHIP.

APPLICATION YILEDAPR. 16, 1914.

1,1 30, 1 25, Patented Mar. 2, 1915 2 SHEETS-SHEET 1.

WTgWli Kms m'rnn s ra ns PATENT mm WILLIAM r. WILKINS, orsHEL EY, I AHO.

AIRSHIP.

To all whom it may concern Be it known that I, WnmmM-f'l. -\Vn'.-' KINS, a; citizen ofthe United States, residing at Shelley, in the county of Bingham and State of Idaho, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Airships; and

I do hereby declarethe following to. be a full, cle ar,' and exact' description of the in? vention, such -as will enable others skilled in the 'art to which vit appertains' to make and a use the-same,

This invention relates broadly to new and useful improvements in aeroplane's an'd" has particular reference to that type of heavier' commonly known as than air-machins, monoplanes, and'ma-inly. those to which there is but one'aerofoil or lifting surface, 1

This invention contemplates as its most. important object the provision of a flying machine of this character having but one main aerofoil which is, in itself capable of assuming an unlimited number .ofgpositions in order" to meet varying conditions of. pressure in contradistiuctionto the more widely. known. machines of this type in which vthe singletier of 'liftingsnrfaces is stationar'yl" a Afurthe'r object'o'f equal importanceas the foregoing is todispense with theli'fting devices of some forms of monoplane and also with the necessity for cambering the .aerofoil.

-A still further object of this invention ,is' thBxp'lOVlSlOIl of novel means for control-1 ling the. steering mechanism of an aeroplane and at the .same time the, adaptation. of, 'these same means for controlling the movable aerofoil. a

The aboveand. additional ObjGCtS are accomplished bysuch means as are illustrated in the accompanying drawings, described in the following. specification and more particularly pointed out in the cla ms which are appended hereto and form a part of this application.

Before taking up he description of the drawings, .1 d while mv inven particular re been illustra i designed, with ion iei ence ted and will -iereafter be. nescribed in that connection. it may ncverthe less be applied with equal eiiieiencf; to hiplanes or triplancs or other formof aerial craft for which it may be fitted.

1th '-reference' to the drawings, wherein I have illustrated the preferred embodiment Specification of Letters Patent.

lin means for the arofoilx a l ievferring' to 'the'drawings and more par ticularly to Fig". I it will befseen thatthe" main elements composing the frame'o'f any monoplane consist of two triangularint'e- I gral side members designated "asfll and 2;

L ernp .asi-ze theft'act that monoplanes, and has Patented Mar. 2,1915. Application file d April 16,1914. Serial No. 332,304.

and throughout the several views of which corresponding numerals of reference.desig-' nate like parts,-Eig1 re l' is asideelevation' of the elements composingfmy' invention in Fig'.- 2 is a 'front', elevation of the matter shown inFig. l.- "Fi 3 is a'detail of my steering mechanism 'detached from my monoplanc as shown in my control their assembled relation.

planl. Fig.-- tis a like view of each one of thesetria'ngula-r partsconsists of a bottom portion 3, two-side 'por'tions lc' and o angularly inclined to the bottom por' tion and meeting at a point directly above the center of the said bottom portion." 'Connecting the ends of these two bottom porQ 'tions 1 and I provide the transverse beams or struts 6 which, as is also the case with side portions 1 and 2' may be made: of any" "light and strong metal s uch;as aluminuml Connecting the apexes ofth two triangles "formed by the s ide portions 1 and'Q'Iprd vide' the pivot shaft 7 which' is suitably mounted at the ape-X of each triangle a ove" referred to in bracLtetsS Mounted upon the endsof this pivot shaft 7 ,andexterior of the bracketsl preferably provide the supporting bases ilOla nd i' ll 'to which s e cured the ma n horizontal aero' each or the corners of lower: V A frame I have mounted the depending bracle ets 13 in which Wheels are. snitah joiir-l. naled. In the center 0. the forwardmem hers 5 position the z'eitlsal. braced-"3' which is connected to t tvvo inclined si'dememo rs i of the Elem "s l and '2 'oyhc-rizontal braces 19-. In a.

.1n.ilar pos'tion from the which itably braced at Upon, a comparison of Figs. 1 and 2-, it I be seen that I have provided an aerofoil whose aspect ratio is less than unity or' as may be otherwise stated, an aerofoil having ts span considerablyshorter in length than G I provide the vertical aerofoils in accepted use have heretofore proved vain for the reason that not suflicient lifting surface was provided to elevate the machine off the ground. .But that feature of my invention to be hereinafter more fully described relating to the pivoted areofoil 12,

adapted to' pass down to the ends of the lower frame portion and by running over the pulleys 21 .to continue substantially parallel'to the lower frame portion but imderneath the same. At the .center of this under frame portion the flexible connectionsv pass several times around the winding cones 22 which are positioned on the shaft 23 as clearly shown in Fig. 4 and from and thence pass rearwardly over two pulleys. 24 similar topulleys 21 and upwardly to make suitable connections with the aerofoil as at 25 substantially similar to the forward connections 19. v k

Intermediate the terminals of' the shaft 23 I position the worm gear 26 which is adaptedto mesh with worm 27 secured on the lower end of a rod 28 similar in all respects to the ordinary steering wheel of an automobile. It will thus be seen that proper manipulation it the winding cones 22 resulting in the Winding or unwinding of the flexible connections 20 so that a corresponding elevation or lowering of the main=aerofoil will be produced.

Turning now to my steering mechamsm it will be noticed that my rudder 29 which is similar in all respects tothat-now commonly used on devices of this character is mounted as is customary on the steering post 17 and is provided with a longitudinal ex-v tension 30.

At the outer terminal of this extension 30 there are provided ring "bolts or suitable fastening means 31 similar to those used on the aerofoil through which the flexible connection 32 is adapted to pass. This flexible connection 32 travels upon the pulleys 33 which are secured to the lower frame of my monoplane in any desired manner and as is shown in Fig.3 is wound upon the w1n l ing spindle 34. This winding spindle 18 mounted at one terminal of the shaft 35 'which has at its opposite extremity the worm gear 36. This gear 36 is adapted to mesh with the similar worm gear 37 mounted on the lower extremity of the rod 38 which is in all respects similar to my steerof the steering rod 28 will result in thenotation of the shaft 23 and with ing rod 28 and directly pemnu which it is positioned. Immediately behind these two controlling rods-I place the drivers seat 39 suitably mounted .on the lower frame -3. Immediately in front of the steering rods I provide the motor 40 which may be of any preferred type now commonly used on aero planes.

- Transmission this motor is affected by the means of the of the power generated by horizontal drive shaft41 whose outer extremity is journaled invthe' upri htbraeel15. Adjacent this outer extremity place the gear 42 adapted power to a gear 43 mounted on'a vertical stub shaft 44-. This shaft is suitably supported as shown at 45 of 'Fig. 1- and has at its upper extremity a mesh with a gear 47 mounted on the inner extremity of the propeller shaft 48. The outer end of this propeller the propeller 49 which may also be of any to transmit the Preferably gear 46 adapted-to v shaft-48 carries.

approved design. An angular brace 50 serves as supporting and means for the propeller shaft. It will be obvious that by thus positioning the motor and propeller of my aeroplane, I have provided means whereby the gearing down of strengthening the propeller may be effected as it is often desired to have the propeller revolved at a much less speed than the engine. Also it will be noted that directly in frontof the dri vers seat so that he may constantly be watching its behavior and having the added advantage that acci-- dents in which the aeroplane falls nose foremost and the pilot is consequently crushed the motor 40 is positioned under the engine positioned behind him, will 7 be obviated. I Referring to Fig. 2 it will be seen that I have placed the fuel tanks 51 and 52 on opposite sides of my lower frame work and in a direct line with the engine. It may be noted in this connection thatthis positioning of the fuel tanks wasdeterinined upon to remove them from the proximity of ,the motor and to also have I bilizing or ballast elements. It may further be remarked that the gasolene or other fuel is adapted to be drawn from the tanks simultaneously and equally as wise would destroy the balance of the ma.-

them' serve as' sta- 7 to do otherchine. It will also be noticed in this con nection that these tanks, the engine and the drivers seat have been all carefully stationed on the lower platform so as to make the center of gravity of the machine coincide with a geometrical line of symmetry.

In addition to the main aerofoil 12, I preferably provide-for my machine the two vertical vanes 53 and 54, these vanes being positioned longitudinally .of the main aerofoil and in the center thereof as is clearly shown in Figs. 1 and'2. These additional planes serve asstablizing elements as re- .which is eliminated in this invention.

gards lateral movement of my machine in the air it being apparent that should the machine swerve to one side or the other while making a flight, that the broad surface of these vanes would be presented to the head wind which is a-reaction of the velocity of the machine. The pressure of this head wind upon the broad surface of these vanes will immediately tend to swing them back to the position of least resistance such as is shown in Fig. 2 and thus aid in keeping the machine on itstrue course. It will be noted however, that should it be the desire of the pilot to effect a turn the resistance occasioned by the rudder 29 when 'properly swung to point the machine in therequired direction will' overcome the tendency of these vanes to keep the straight course and in this connection the vanes mainly serve as the means for enabling the rudder to get a firm grip on the air. It will be noticed by a perusal of Fig. 1 that the edge, however, there presented of the main a erofoil 12 shows no cambering thereof the necessityi for t is of course well known that most biplanes and monoplanes of present construction have their supporting surfaces cambered in a hyperbolic curve, this curve increasing as the rear ofthe surface is approached. This is necessary for the reason that the present day planes are fixed in their relation to the flight of the machine While in my invention, as before stated, the machine with its pivoting of the aerofoil allows for the shift of this lifting surface to meet any and all conditions that may arise in the flight without the necessity of cambering. It will be noticed that the stabilizing vanes 53 and 54 are suitably connected to the main aero'foil 12 by any desirable form of strut as shown at 55 and that the frame ofthe aeroplane is further braced as shown at 56. This brace however will not be described at length for the reason that it forms no important part of this invention and may be varied to suit conditions arising in the reduction to practice of my invention. Vhile in the foregoingI have illustrated in the drawings and description in the specification such combination and arrangement of elements as constitute the preferred embodiment of my invention, I desire to operating said worm,

emphasize the fact that"-1 may makesuch minor changes in the matters of proportion as shall not alter the spirit of my invention as defined in the appended claims.

What I claim is:

1. In a device of the character described; the combination with an operators platform of triangular integral side members positioned on said platform and having their apexes in the vertical plane bisecting said platform, brackets located on said apexes, a rod rotatably mounted in said brackets, a movable aerofoilcarried by said rod and controlling means for the adjustment of said aerofoil including a transverse shaft carried beneath said platform, winding cones fixed to said shaft, a worm also carried by said shaft, means for manually pulleys mounted upon the underside of said platform in longitudinal alinement with said winding cones and cables wound upon said cones, running over said pulleys and secured at their ends to said aerofoil to exert a vertical downward pull upon the latter when said shaft is manually operated.

2. In a device of the character described, the combination with an operators platform, triangular side members, supporting brackets carried by said platform and fixed to said side members, a propeller mounted in one of said brackets, a rudder mounted for rotation about a vertical axis in the other of said brackets, a longitudinally positioned shaft carrying a winding cone at one extremity and a worm gear at the other, manually operable means connected to said worm for operating said shaft, pulleys carried by and underneath said platform and a cable wound upon said cone running over said pulleys and having its ends connected to opposite sides of said rudder whereby the latter may be rotated by the operation of said shaft.

In testimony whereof I have signed my name to this specification in the presence of two subscribing witnesses. I

WILLIAM T. WILKINS.

Witnesses:

I. W. REED, SOREN YORGESEN.

. 55 and degree, in later adaptions of my device. 

